The new ASHM Australian HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Clinical Guidelines have been published in the Journal of Virus Eradication. You can access the guidelines here.

The 2017 Australian PrEP Guidelines have the benefits of having been being written and edited by clinicians, epidemiologists and representatives of peak Australian HIV community organisations who have significant experience of PrEP in the clinical, research and real-world settings. These guidelines are written for clinicians who will be initiating PrEP and monitoring people taking PrEP and are designed to reflect Australia’s unique epidemiology.

The recommendations included in the Guidelines are designed to:

Support the prescription of PrEP using the ARTG-listed drugs and other bioequivalent generic drugs that are available in Australia, or are being used in Australian PrEP trials

Assist clinicians in their evaluation of patients who are seeking PrEP

To assist clinicians in commencing and monitoring their patients on PrEP by providing information on PrEP dosing schedules, management of side-effects and toxicity, use of PrEP in pregnancy and in chronic hepatitis B infection and how to cease PrEP.

The 2017 ASHM PrEP Guidelines address some of the more nuanced clinical issues and populations which were not addressed in the 2015 ASHM PrEP Guidelines including:

Trans and gender diverse people

Specific guidance on risk assessment to assist in determining an individual’s eligibility for PrEP

Use of a case-by-case approach to determine an individual’s eligibility for PrEP